Ball retriever



April 8, I h. ANDERSON BALL RETRIEVER Filed Dec. 12, 1966 IN VENTOR fin er-son Robe/I l? HTTORN'Y United States Patent 3,437,368 BALL RETRIEVER Robert F. Anderson, Midland, Mich., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Anderson Manufacturing Company, Menominee, Micl1., a corporation of Michigan Filed Dec. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 601,023 Int. Cl. A47f 13/06 U.S. Cl. 294-19 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ball retriever device for dragging over a surface on which a ball is lying and picking up the ball. The device has 1) a frame in the general form of a wide, foreshortened inverted U, (2) a coil spring extending, at least slightly in tension, between the legs of the frame, and (3) a handle. The handle is preferably greatly extensible. The frame may be foldable. Spring guide means may be used to help maintain the coil spring in alignment.

The invention relates to a device for retrieving spherical objects such as golf balls either near at hand without stooping or from a distance, as over a fence.

The enjoyment of games such as golf is marred by the necessity to stoop repeatedly to pick up balls after prac tice drives and putts, and even more, by bad luck shots requiring retrieval of the ball from a water hazard, from a weedy portion of the rough, or from beyond a fence beyond the fairway.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a device which entraps, readily, balls such as golf balls pressed thereagainst, thereby greatly facilitating the retrieval of such balls.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ball entrapping device which can be operated at a moderate distance from the operator by merely dragging the device over the applicable terrain.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a ball entrapping device in which a small supply of balls can be carried conveniently and from which the balls are easily removed when desired.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with the following description and the appended drawings in which like parts are indicated by like reference numerals and FIG. 1 is a view of the retriever device in side elevation with the profile of the middle section of the top part of the frame indicated in dotted outline, and the near side coil spring retainer also being shown in dotted outline;

FIG. 2 is a view of the device in front elevation, the thickness of the top part of the frame at its mid-width being indicated by a dotted line;

FIG. 3 is a view in section taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a different embodiment of the retriever device having a folding frame, the mode of folding being indicated by the dotted lines showing the frame in the folded configuration; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of another form of center connector member used with a folding device as in FIG. 4 but employing the tension of the coil spring as means for keeping the device in the open or unfolded configuration.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ball retriever device is seen to have the form of (1) an inverted generally U-shaped frame member having substantially foreshortened leg portions connected by a substantially straight top portion, (2) a coil spring extending between and being attached to the leg portions, and the coil spring being substantially in tension, and '(3) a handle attached to the top portion of the frame member. Preferably spring guide means are positioned at about the midlength of the top portion of the frame member and adapted to prevent the coil spring from moving out of alignment with the leg portions of the frame member.

More specifically, the ball retrieval device is made up of a generally flat rectangular frame member 10 having a first end 11 and a second end 12, terminating in respective flanges 13, 14, a coil spring 15 extending between the flanges 13, 14, spring guide means 16, and a handle 17 fixedly attached to the frame member 10' at about its midlength. The attachment may be pivotal, if desired, e.g., so that the frame member 10 extends substantially parallel to the handle 17 for easy storage of the device in a narrow enclosure such as a golf bag. In the event the attachment is pivotal, it should be made (1) rather stiffly pivotal, as by incorporating, in the attachment assembly, a washer formed of rubber or other resilient material or (2) releasably lockable in operating configuration by the use of indexing means such as detent means, e.g., in the attachment assembly, as well understood in the fastening arts. For the sake of sturdin-ess and economy in construction it is often desirable to construct the frame member, including the flanges, of a single piece of sheet metal, or of a single piece of plastic material, as by injection molding.

Preferably, the handle 17 is extensible because of telescopic construction so that the device may be used to retrieve balls that are beyond fences, in poison ivy patches, or under water and the like. Light, compact handles extensible to 12 to 15 feet are desirable.

The flange 14, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is provided with round apertures 18 of an appropriate size to receive and each hold a golf tee 19 firmly pressed thereinto. These apertures may be omitted, if desired, e.g., where the retriever is used for other than golf balls.

The coil spring 15 is attached to the flanges 13and 14 in any suitable manner, e.g., by insertion of the end portions of the spring behind bell shaped cover plates 20, 21, which serve as retaining means. It is essential for proper operation of the device that the coil spring 15 is substantially under tension in order (1) that a ball easily passes between successive turns of the spring, and (2) that the coil spring stays substantially in alignment with the flanges 13 and 14. The alignment is aided by the spring guide means 16, but more importantly by proper selection of a weight of spring wire which will be capable, in the coiled condition, of supporting the size and density of ball to be picked up. As an example, a coil spring made of steel spring wire 0.06 inch in diameter and with one turn to the inch under about 0.5 to 2 pounds tension, is quite capable of satisfactorily accepting and supporting a standard golf ball.

Satisfactory operation of the coil spring is further enhanced by using a spring of sufficient length in proportion to the width so that a ball to be picked up readily passes between successive turns of the spring and enters the space within the coil. Preferably the length of the spring in the at least slightly distended condition is at least about 3 times the diameter of the coil spring. The diameter of the coil spring is not sharply critical. Thus a coil spring having a diameter in the range of about 1.5 to about 2.5 inch is readily capable of picking up a standard golf ball having a diameter of about 1 and inch diameter. More preferably a coil spring used to pick up a standard golf ball has a diameter in the range of 1 and /8 inch to 2 inches. The most preferred diameter of coil spring is about & inch to 4 inch larger than the diameter of the ball to be picked up. A golf ball, when picked up by the apparatus, is readily retained within the volume defined by the coil spring itself, for example, the ball 22 as shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore, the ball is usually free to move from side to side between the flanges without substantial resistance from the coil spring.

In another embodiment of the device of the invention, the frame is constructed so that it can be substantially folded up into a very small configuration. Referring now to FIG. 4, there is seen such a device in which the frame comprises a pair of substantially aligned rigid straps 23 and 24 pivotally joined as by a conventional pivot pin at adjacent ends 25 and 26 to a connector member 27. As indicated by the dotted lines, each of the straps 23, 24 are pivotal to a position substantially parallel to and immediately adjacent the handle 17, the coil spring being omitted for the sake of clarity in indicating the folded configuration. The coil spring, if shown, would be recoiled sufficiently to fit between the flanges, holding them close together.

The handle 17 is preferably fixedly joined to the connector member 27. The flanges 13 and 14 are pivotally attached to the ends 28 and 29 of the straps 23 and 24 remote from the connector member 27. The pivotal axis of each flange extends along a line that is transverse to the axis of the coil spring 15 and normal to the respective strap adjacent the remote end. Essentially, the coil spring 15 is one which is capable of recoiling sufficiently to pull the flanges 13 and 14 together into the position indicated by the dotted lines, although a supplemental fastening device may be used if desired to hold the 2 straps 23 and 24 together in the folded configuration. In order to maintain the straps 23 and 24 of the frame member in the forward or operative positions, releasable index means are formed in the connector member 27 and in the ends 25 and 26 of each strap. The releasable indexing means may take the form of detent means such as dimples 30 and 31 in the connector member and corresponding aligned depressions (not shown) in the ends of the straps. A suitable spring guide means usable as a part of the folding device takes the form of an arcuate-shaped strap or strip of sheet metal 32 attached to the connector member 27 and position extending substantially concentrically of an arcuate portion of the periphery of the coil spring.

In yet another embodiment of the present device, which is capable of being folded up, there are employed straps 23 and 24 similar to the straps shown in FIG. 4, but in conjunction with and fastened as by a conventional pivot pin, for example, to the connector member 38 illustrated in the fragmentary view in FIG. 5. In this modification of the device, the straps 23 and 24, in operative position, are not coaligned but are pivoted forwardly of the aligned position, i.e., the straps are swung away from the handle 17 to a position beyond or forward of the coaligned position. The front edges 34 and 35 of the connector member 33 prevent further forward pivoting of the straps 23 and 24 under the urging of the coil spring 15 whereby the apparatus is provided in a stable configuration. It is essential to the proper operation of this modification of the device that the coil spring 15 is maintained under a substantial tension of at least pounds pull and preferably at least pounds pull when the apparatus is in the unfolded condition. On moving straps 23 and 24 back toward the handle 17 to respective positions at least slightly closer to the handle than the coaligned positions, i.e., to an angle less than normal to the axis of the handle 17, the spring tension will readily pull the straps 23 and 24 into a position parallel to the handle 17.

In using the ball retriever of the invention, the retriever is pushed or pulled over the surface on which lies a ball of appropriate size and which the retriever is adapted to pick up. On pressing the retriever against the ball, e.g., where the surface is at least slightly resilient as in the case of a grassy or pebbly area outdoors, or a carpeted area indoors, or any place where the ball does not roll too easily, the ball passes between successive turns of the coil spring and is readily retained inside the spring 4 body so that the ball is picked up on picking up the retriever.

Among the advantages of the present retriever device is the convenience of carrying one or more balls in the spring body until they are desired for play.

The apparatus of the invention having been thus fully described, various modifications thereof will at once be apparent to those skilled in the art and the scope of the invention is to be considered limited only by the breadth of the claims hereafter appended.

I claim:

1. A ball retrieval device which comprises;

a generally flat rectangular frame member comprising a pair of substantially aligned rigid straps pivotally joined at adjacent ends by a connector member and having a flange pivotally attached to the ends of each strap remote from the connector member, each flange extending substantially normal to the plane of the frame member,

a handle fixedly joined to the connector member,

each of said straps being pivotal to a position substantially parallel to and immediately adjacent said handle,

a coil spring extending between the said flanges and substantially aligned therewith, each end of the coil spring being attached to a respective adjacent flange, the coil spring being substantially in tension, the coil spring being positioned with a side thereof substantially aligned with those ends of the flanges most remote from the frame member, the pivotal axis of each flange being along a line extending transversely of the coil spring and normal to the respective strap adjacent the end of said strap remote from the connector member,

releasable indexing means formed in the connector member and each strap adapted to hold the straps in coaligned position,

said frame member having spring guide means at about midway the flanges, said spring guide means being an arcuate-shaped strap attached to the connector member and positioned extending substantially concentrically of an arcuate portion of the periphery of the coil spring thereby substantially preventing lateral movement of the coil spring out of alignment with the flanges.

2. The device as in claim 1 in which the handle is telescopically extensible.

3. The device as in claim 1 in which the distance between the flanges when coaligned along a line substantially normal to the handle is at least about 3 times the diameter of the coil spring.

4. The device as in claim 1 in which each of the straps is pivotal from a position substantially parallel to and immediately adjacent said handle to a position forward of coalignment of the straps along a line substantially normal to the handle;

the connector member is provided with stop means to prevent forward pivotal movement of each of the straps beyond a predetermined position; and

the coil spring is in tension when the straps are in the most forward position.

5. The device as in claim 1 in which the coil spring has a body diameter from about to about A inch 0 greater than the diameter of a standard golf ball.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 721,196 2/1903 Jeffreys 294-19 2,724,610 11/ S Fitzgerald 294-19 3,029,097 4/1962 Ward 294-19 3,265,430 8/1966 Jenkins 294-19 ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner. 

